


Love At First Near Drowning Incident

by Kamechan98



Series: Stony Prompts [6]
Category: Avengers Assemble (Cartoon), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Meetings, Flirting, Fluff, Implied First Date, Love at First Sight, M/M, Meet-Cute, Sort Of, Steve is a hero, and Tony is a bad swimmer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-30 06:00:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19847071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kamechan98/pseuds/Kamechan98
Summary: Prompt: “You're safe now, I've got you.”Tony is in Italy for the summer, waiting for a nice, relaxful time away from any school work. When he- quite literally- bumps into Steve. And almost drowns because of it.





	Love At First Near Drowning Incident

**Author's Note:**

> So, trying something new this time. This is my first attempt at writing an Alternate Universe, and I’m taking a stab at College/University and No Powers. Hopefully it’s good, ‘cause this idea came to me while writing the previous one and I really wanted to do it.

**Prompt: “You're safe now, I've got you.”**

* * *

In hindsight, Tony guesses it was just his luck that something like this happened on the first day of his vacation. He’d have such rotten luck since, well _forever_ , that it just made sense that he’d almost kill himself on his time to recuperate.

He was visiting his grandparents in Positano, Italy, since they refused to ever visit him and his parents in America. And having just been released out of MIT for the summer, his _nonna_ had been very quick to invite him to their house for the summer so they could spend some time together, as his parents were off to Tokyo for a business trip and would then fly to the Bahamas for a few weeks of vacation. And since Rhodey was going to spend his summer in LA with Carol and he didn’t want to spend his summer alone, he figured it’d be good to spend his summer vacation in this peaceful little village.

Peaceful? Hah!

Tony had been taking a small walk along the docks down by the harbor, taking in the clear blue water and colorful houses and warm bright sun. There were plenty of boats there too, most of them preparing for a full day of fishing or taking tourists out for tours to hidden beaches or other places around the coast. Tony had smiled, closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose, taking in the scents of salt water and felt in his bones that _‘This. This is home.’_

And it was probably because his eyes were closed and his mind was elsewhere that it all came as such a surprise when he suddenly felt someone bump into him, pretty roughly too. It took him so by surprise that he ended up tripping over his own feet, stumbled over a long, taut rope that was keeping a boat tied to the dock and he fell into the water with a small yelp.

Tony had never been a particularly good swimmer. He had learned, obviously he had learned to swim, but he had never been too fond of swimming or water in general. But once he managed to get his head above water, he’d felt that the cuff of his jeans was caught on something and he couldn’t yank it free. And because of how deep it was and the fact that it was his cuff that was stuck, he could barely keep his head above the water. As he tried to pull his leg free and keep himself afloat with his arms, waves kept splashing into his face, mouth and eyes, making him swallow or accidently inhale salt water, which made him cough and splutter and made it much harder to keep his head above the water or avoid new waves, never mind calling for help.

In his swelling waves of panic, he heard a loud splash somewhere to his left, but he couldn’t see anything because of the saltwater splashing in his eyes. But he felt someone grab his ankle and yank on it and suddenly his leg was free and he started kicking and wave with his arms to stay afloat. Then he felt arms grabbing him around the chest, slightly under his armpits and hold him steady, despite him kicking and flailing wildly without being able to see, while still gasping, spluttering and coughing in wild panic.

“It’s okay. It’s alright, you’re safe. You’re safe now, I’ve got you.”

The voice was calm and collected, though there was a subtle undertone of fear in there too. He felt himself being pulled in one direction; one of the arms that held him let go of him while the other one held him steady. Tony started to relax and had stopped kicking and flailing, though he was still blinded and his eyes stung. And he jumped slightly when he felt his savior grab him in a rougher kind of bridal carry, but he barely had time to react before the guy heaved him up and onto the dock again.

For the first few minutes Tony was lying there, spluttering and coughing up saltwater and trying to wrap his brain around what had just happened and how fast it had happened. It all couldn’t have been more than five minutes, tops, but it had felt like an eternity before he was finally back up on dry land.

He felt a hand on his back, patting firmly to help him cough up the water and probably reassure him. “Hey, hey, it’s okay man. You’re alright, just cough it all up.” The voice was gentle, if a little awkward, but his presence did help a little.

He heard another splash and through his closed eyes saw someone block the sun for a few minutes, and felt another hand, on his shoulder this time.

“Are you alright?” The voice sounded very worried- and very American- but Tony was still coughing up water, but when he finally felt like he could breathe and his eyes didn’t sting so much anymore, he blinked a few times and looked up at his savior and-

Hellooo biceps. And triceps. And abs. And pretty much every other part of his body.

The guy was fucking gorgeous! He had the body of a Greek God (or would that be a Roman God, considering they were in Italy?); he was tall, well-built and strong with muscles in places Tony didn’t know existed. And the fact that his clothes were wet and clung to his body in just the right ways and showed of his muscles perfectly certainly didn’t help Tony’s staring. His hair was blonde- though it was lying flat against his head and face now, and shone like gold in the sunlight and his eyes were as blue as the ocean below them. Which Tony might have found ironic if he wasn’t so captivated by how handsome this guy was.

The guy though probably took Tony’s long silence as him not know English, because he suddenly looked a little wary and looked like he was trying hard to remember something, before speaking again, this time in Italian. “Uh… _Parli inglese?_ ”

His Italian wasn’t terrible, though his pronunciation was weak and a little stilted. It was clear this guy was a tourist and knew very little Italian other than a few necessary phrases that he needed to know. Tony huffed a small laugh, prompting another coughing fit and got up on his knees, brushing wet strands of hair out of his eyes and looking back at the Adonis in front of him.

He coughed again and cleared his throat before he finally started to talk. “You’re… you’re American.” It sounded more like a statement than a question, which was what he had intended it to be, but the Adonis seemed more surprised by the fact that Tony did in fact speak English and what he said than how he said it, so it didn’t bother him too much.

He straightened up and rubbed the back of his neck a bit sheepishly. “Oh. Uh, yeah. I’m here on vacation with my friends.” He pointed over at the guy behind Tony, who Tony had kinda forgotten about despite his hand on his back. The guy was also pretty buff, only a few inches or so shorter and had shaggy, shoulder-long hair and dark blue eyes. He smiled wryly and removed his hand from Tony’s back.

“Hey. I’m Bucky, and this lug’s best friend.” Bucky? What kind of a name was that? But Tony didn’t really want to ask and just nodded with a weak smile. Bucky was standing on his knees but was now standing up. “You okay now?”

Tony nodded and had finally stopped coughing. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks.” He turned back to the Adonis, smiling wryly again. “You didn’t exactly learn Italian in High School, did you?”

He smiled sheepishly and rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, a soft red blush coloring his cheeks. “Uh, I… no. No I didn’t, I took French. I don’t really know that much Italian.”

Tony smirked lightly, eyebrow raised in amusement. “Yeah, I can tell.”

He then smiled more genuinely and stroke his wet hair out of his face. “Well, I guess I owe you a thank you for saving my life just now.”

The Adonis smiled and then slowly got up on his feet, reaching out his hand for Tony to take and Tony gladly took it and let the Adonis help him stand up. Then he went back to looking kinda sheepish and a little guilty.

“Uh, well in that case, I guess I owe you an apology for bumping into you like that. I wasn’t looking where I was going and… well, I walked into you, I guess.” He tried to smile, but it looked very strained and unnatural. He then also seemed to realize he was still holding Tony’s hand because he dropped it very quickly. “I’m… I’m really sorry. Are you okay?”

Tony smiled reassuringly, if a bit cockily, and stroke his hair out of his eyes again. He folded his arms over his chest, leaning on his leg and looking into his big blue eyes.

“Hey, it’s cool. I’m alright, no harm done. And I would say it wasn’t so terrible, ‘cause now I’m talking to you, Handsome.”

Steve looked a little surprised at how forward Tony suddenly was and how quickly he had brushed the whole almost-drowning-thing off, but his smile looked more natural now and he took a step forward.

“Yeah? Well, I’m happy to be of service in any way I can, mister.” Bucky groaned somewhere behind Tony, either out annoyance or because of how corny the line was.

“Oh Jesus, Steve you really gotta work on your flirting.” The Adonis- or Steve- blushed even more and glared over at his friend, but Tony just smirked and took a step forward as well, shrugging off his wet, thin jacket, showing off his own well-defined arms and tan. And his smirk widened slightly when he saw how Steve’s gaze was suddenly drawn away from the best friend and was now directed at his body. Though the blush was still there.

“So tell me, Blondie, do you spend your vacations saving people from drowning or am I just lucky?” Steve smirked back and put his hands in his sides.

“Well no, not that often. I guess you’re just special.”

“Ooh, I’m flattered.”

Bucky rolled his eyes with another groan. “Well, I guess I’m not needed anymore. I’m gonna go check out what Natasha’s up to.” He turned to glare at his friend. “Maybe _she_ can actually pay _me_ some attention.” Then he walked away and Steve just waved him off.

“Later, Buck.”

They both laughed at their corny flirting and bizarre the whole thing had been, then the guy reached a hand for Tony to shake with a more comfortable smile.

“I’m Steve Rogers.”

Tony smiled back and shook his hand. “Tony Stark.” If Steve recognized the name Stark, he certainly didn’t show it, he just smiled and tucked his hands into his pockets.

“Well then, Tony, could I maybe treat you to some Gelato? As an apology for pushing you into the water.” Tony smirked at him and a small laugh escaped his lips.

“Well I was kinda hoping I could treat _you_ to some Gelato. As a thank you for saving me from drowning.” Steve smiled, and damn, that smile was way more breathtaking than any smile had any right to be.

“I’ll pay yours and you’ll pay mine?” Tony chuckled and, despite still being soaking wet and his heart was still kinda pounding from the almost drowning incident, he felt totally date ready.

“It’s a date.”


End file.
